We have a lot of friends carrying heavy, heavy burdens,
going through difficult trials. Some, we've already mentioned
this morning, you're aware of. Some carry some real private
things. Nobody knows about them except
them and God. I may know a little. And like you, I've been trying
to pray for our friends and myself. Truly in a family, what happens
to one happens to all. That's the way it is in a family.
And I've been seeking light in what appears to be utter darkness. One day last week while Carrying
these burdens of our friends before the throne of grace, I
ran across a passage of scripture in Isaiah's prophecy, chapter
42. And it spoke powerfully to me.
And I'm confident that God spoke as he did to me from this passage,
not only for my sake, but as his messenger to you. And I've
got a message for you. Now in this 42nd chapter of Isaiah's
prophecy, the prophet is describing our Lord Jesus Christ. He's speaking
about the coming of Christ into this world to redeem and save
his people. And this is where the prophet
begins describing him. Verse 1. Behold my servant. Now that's where all comfort
begins. That's where all hope begins.
That's where all peace begins. That's where all life begins. Behold Christ, my servant, whom
I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. This is my beloved son, our God
said, in whom I'm well pleased. And I'm glad he said in whom,
because I'm in him. Not with whom, but in whom. He's
pleased with him, but bless God, he's pleased in him. And I'm
in him. That means he's pleased with
me. In him. Now if you ever get a hold of
that, that'll sail your boat. In whom my soul delighteth. I
put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment.
The word is righteousness or justice to Gentiles. He shall
not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the
street, that he is not going to need any help or sympathy.
Oh, poor Jesus. Not this servant. He's not crying, nor lift up.
He's not frustrated. Verse 3. A bruised reed. Shall he not
break? That's just about the most useless
thing there is I can think of. A bruised reed. You can't blow
a dart through it, you can't even use it for a pea shooter.
But a bruised reed, shall he not break? And the smoking flax,
shall he not quench? That's about the most aggravating
thing you can find. He won't give out any light,
won't give out any heat, just an obnoxious stench. But He'll
not destroy it. The most worthless and the most
obnoxious find grace in Him. He shall bring forth judgment,
righteousness to truth. And He's going to do it right.
He shall not fail. He shall not fail. Now listen
to me, children of God. Oh, to God I could have the ear
of the world. He who is the Christ of God never
fails at anything. He shall not fail. Failure is
an impossibility with Him. If he stretches forth his hand
to save, the one to whom he stretches his hand shall be saved. He shall
not fail. That's an impossibility. He'll
not even be discouraged. Till he has set judgment, righteousness,
justice, truth. That is judgment, righteousness,
justice, and truth in the redemption of his people. His own sacrifice
in the earth and the isles. The nations of the world shall
wait for His law, His word. Are you waiting for a word from
God? I hope you are. You won't be
disappointed. You won't have to go anywhere
either. Just look down at verse 16. Now here's the passage I
read across the other day by which God spoke so powerfully
to me. It contains one of God's promises, one of those sweet
promises of God that are ours in Christ Jesus and in Him are
yea and amen. The Lord God says, I will bring
the blind by a way that they knew not. I will lead them in
paths that they have not known. I will make darkness light before
them. And crooked things straight,
these things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. Now clearly
this is talking about redemption and our salvation in Christ.
No question about that. No question about that. is describing
that one who would come, as we're told in verse 21, who would magnify
the law and make it honorable. And that's what Christ did by
the sacrifice of himself when he was made to be sin for us.
He magnified God's holy law and made it honorable and making
it possible now for God to be both just and the justifier of
all who believe. But the promise reaches even
beyond redemption. and even beyond the experience
of grace and the revelation of Christ in our heart. This is
God's promise to his people in this dark, dark world. We were blind. Some of you still
are. Our Lord said to Nicodemus, except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The things
I'm talking to you about, you've heard me preach before, You'll
sit here today unless God graciously births you into his kingdom.
You can't see. You can't see the kingdom of
God. I preach to folks all the time. They sit and stare at me
like a cat looking at a new gate. What's that? No matter how precise
the wording is, no matter how logical, no matter how clearly
presented, blind men can't see. that can't see. Can't see. We were blind. But now, Lindsey,
we see because He's given us eyes to see. He led us thus far in paths of
righteousness, grace, and faith. And these were paths that we
knew not before. And then the promise reaches
our present circumstances. He declares to you and me today,
his children, I will make darkness light before them and crooked
things straight. These things will I do unto them
and not forsake them. Now after reading that and mulling
it over and reading it again and mulling it over some more
and mulling it over some more, I read on, read the next chapter,
and the next chapter, and the next chapter. And I began to
see darkness turn to light and some crooked things made straight.
So you hold your Bibles open here as we look at these three
chapters together very briefly. Isaiah 43 is where we'll start.
I'm not going to do much preaching. I wish you'd hear me just as
though we were sitting down here in the office or at your den
talking about the scriptures and I just pulled up a chair
beside you and I'd say, Bobby, let me show you something. Let me show you something. I
just want to show you something. I want to show you something
in God's Word. that will make darkness light before you, and
make crooked things straight before you. Throughout these
three chapters, God speaks to us by two names, particularly. He speaks to us as Jacob. That's what we are by nature.
That's our flesh. That's our carnal nature. And
we still got it. And it never gets any better.
Poor Jacob. God said, you'll not be called
Jacob anymore. You'll be called Israel. But
he was still Jacob. He's still Jacob. To the day
he died. You and me too. And then he calls,
in the same sentence, he says Israel. Israel. That's what we are by grace.
princes with God. Because the Lord would have us
ever mindful of the fact that while we are in this world, as
long as we are in this body of flesh, we are men and women with
two distinct natures. Two diametrically opposing natures. Jacob always opposes God. And there is that in Skip Gladfelter
and Don Fortner, no matter how we grow in grace, that will oppose
God as much as it did when we walked before him blaspheming
his name. Jacob always opposes God. Always
opposes God's way. Always. He always kicks. He always fights. He always resists. He always says, let me have my
way and have it the way I want it. Always. Israel though, he's
a prince with God. God's wrestled with him and subdued
him. He's wrestled against God and
been subdued. And now being subdued, he prevails. Israel, he's Jeshurun, the righteous
and holy people. Israel, He is that one whom God
has chosen and redeemed and called by his name. Israel, he's the
object of God's blessing. Now the reason the Lord constantly
uses these two names is to remind us that he remembers our frame. And he knows that we're just
dust. Jacob cries out, in the midst
of the storm, to God Almighty who has proved Himself faithful
over and over and over again. Lord, carest thou not that we
perish? What's wrong with you? Have you
forgotten us? Are you asleep? Israel walks across the stormy
sea. on bare feet, because he believes
God. And the Lord looks on us and
says, fear not, Jacob. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not. And he says that three times
in these three chapters, fear not, fear not. Well, Lord, if you don't want me to be afraid,
give me a reason. All right? Here it is. Here it
is. I recall when Audre Grace was
just two years old. Just in case y'all don't know
this now, she was the smartest two-year-old ever was until Will
came along. He's running a close second. We were in the mall one
day, and I was trying to get my walking in. I was trying to
behave like an ought to. I told her I'd take her to get
some candy. And of course she was walking
in front of me, about 10, 12 feet in front of me. She wanted
to be in sight, but didn't want anybody to know she was depending on me. So she's
walking along. Got time to finish up walking,
and we got close to the candy store. She said, Poppy, come
here. I'll show you something. And we went in that candy store
and she just, she went from this thing to that thing. There wasn't
a bit in there she missed. Her eyes just danced, just sparkling. Well, I want us to go through
these three chapters like kids in a candy store. We'll just
get a piece here and there. And I want you to taste every sweet
morsel. I don't want you to miss a thing.
All right, look what it says. Fear not, I have redeemed thee. All right, that's enough. No,
we'll get some more. Christ has redeemed you, my brother.
He's redeemed you, my sister, with the price of His blood and
the power of His grace. That means nothing and no one
will ever do you harm. Not in heaven, not in earth,
and not in hell. Nothing and no one. Not in time
and not in eternity. He bought you at such a dear
price. He won't let anything happen
to you. Here's the second thing. I have called thee by thy name. One day, he came
to where you were, up a tree, and he said, Zacchaeus, come
down. And Zacchaeus came down. I've called you. I've called
you. Pictures everywhere talk about
universal grace and universal love and universal this, universal
that. You know what universal grace
is? It's utterly useless grace. If he called you and called you
the same way, his call doesn't mean squat. You understood that,
didn't you? It's useless. Oh, but special
grace. I called you when you were terrified
of me. I called you when you would not
come to me. I sought you out. And I graciously
forced you, forced your heart, forced your will, forced you
by the sweet constraint of grace. Oh, we don't want to tell folks
God forces anything. God forced you. Thank God He
did. Stuck His heart in your heart. Sweetly forced you to
come to me. And when you came to me in your
time of desperate need, you found yourself welcomed by me. Now,
nothing's changed. I redeemed you. I called you.
Read on. What does that mean? If I bought
you and I called you, you're mine. Thou art mine. Oh, what a word of grace. Child
of God, you belong to God Almighty as His peculiar possession, His
new creation, the very apple of His eye. That means you're
under His care, His protection, His provision. The Lord himself
is my shepherd. That means I shall not walk. That means goodness and mercy
shall follow me, pursue me, go after me, and prepare the way
before me all the days of my life. And when I get done, I'm
going to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Alright, look
at verse 2. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. And through
the rivers, They shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through
the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. Oh yes, yes sir. You must pass
through deep waters of trouble, raging rivers of woe, and fiery
furnaces of affliction. You must. You must. Because that's what you need. Because without them, you wouldn't
survive believing God. Because without these things, you wouldn't be of any use to
the folks in this world. Because in this way, God honors
himself in you. But you will pass through them. And the rivers will never get
up to your throat and choke you. They'll not overflow you. And the waters, they will give you calm in the
midst of them. And the fire. It won't kindle on you. You won't be burned by it. Oh,
but Brother John, what about those martyrs who were burned
at the stake? They weren't burned. Not a one of them. Not a one
of them. Only their tit was burned. That's
all it was burned. They weren't harmed. They were
taken to glory. Oh, well, that's not good enough
for me. Well, I don't have anything for you then. I don't have a
thing for you. I'm not talking about things
that will make you happy here. Oh, no. I want to be happy here. Who ever told you it was your
right to be happy in this world? Who told you that God made the
world to make you happy? This world doesn't exist to make
you happy. No, sir. No, sir. This world
exists for God to save you for the glory of His name. There's
a big difference. The flame will not kindle on
you. As a matter of fact, all the flame can do is burn the
cords that bind you. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
were thrown in the fire furnace, they didn't come out smelling
like smoke. Matter of fact, while they were in the furnace, the
cords that bound them were burned. That's all. That's all. And their
enemies were destroyed. All right. Look what God says.
When you pass through the waters and through the river and through
the fiery furnace, I'll be with you. Now listen to me. Wherever God,
by his providence, puts you. He's with you. I will be with you. It's a promise.
Alright, look at verse 3 again. I am the Lord thy God. The Holy One of Israel. Jehovah, the Almighty Redeemer. Elohim, the triune, omnipotent
God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The holy one of Israel. Israel's holy one. That one in
whom Israel is made holy and has holiness. Who is always faithful
and wise and just and true and good. He says, I am your God. Earlier he said, you're mine.
I bought you. I called you by name, you're mine. Now he says,
I'm yours. God Almighty is as much the property
of Rex Bartley as Rex Bartley is the property of God. Because
he gave himself to you. You got that? I'm your God. Read on. I am thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom. Ethiopia and Saba for thee. I'm your Savior. I'm your Savior. I'm not talking
about just what you think. I'm your Savior. I'm the one
who redeemed you. I'm the one who chose you. I'm the one who
called you. I'm the one who's keeping you. I'm the one who'll
bring you to glory. I'll save you out of every trouble,
from everything that hurts. I'm your Savior. And Egypt, and
Ethiopia, and Sheba, Look them over real good and learn what
I'm telling you. There is nothing I won't do for
you. There's no sacrifice I won't
make for you. This is heaven's logic. He that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up freely for us all, how
shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Look at verse seven, I'm sorry,
verse four. Since thou was precious in my sight, highly valued, costly, cherished,
highly esteemed, children of God, you are God's treasure,
His crown jewels. Despised by men, yeah, but if
you're a believer Precious to God a royal diadem in the crown
of his glory now Since that was precious in my sight don't miss
the word sense Thou has been honorable Because I loved you Because I
made you precious to me, because I chose you as that which is
precious in my sight, now you're honorable, not the other way
around. You're not precious in my sight
because you're better than other people. You're not precious in
my sight because you did something for me other folks didn't do.
You're not precious in my sight because you decided you'd let
me be your God. Oh no! Since you were precious
in my sight, I've made you honorable. There's nothing about you honorable
by nature. And you can't do an honorable
thing. You can't do it. You got polluted hands and anything
you touch you make dirty Anything anything I've never Oh my God, what a sad confession. I've never had any contact with
anything or anybody that I didn't corrupt in some way. I wish that weren't so, but that's
just the way it is. That's just the way it is. And
you too. You too. You too. Because everything about us is
corrupt. Touch a dead body, you're unclean.
That's all. But God's made you honorable.
worthy of God's own honor. Washed in the blood of His Son.
Robed in the righteousness of His Son. Now watch this. I have
loved thee. Let men talk all they want to
about useless universal love. God loves you and we do too.
You're going to hell, but God loves you. Isn't that sweet? God loves you. Yes, He does.
God loves you. Send us some money and we'll
send you a prayer cloth. God loves you. Isn't that sweet? It's useless. Love that lets a man perish is
useless love. Love that wants to help and can't
help is useless love. Love that has the ability to
save and doesn't save is a mockery. It ain't love. Oh no, no, no. God says, I've loved you. That's
good. That's good. And here's his message. I gave men for you. I'll give
people for your life. That's how much you mean to me.
That's how much I love you. I have sacrificed the whole world
for you. I've sacrificed the whole of
creation for you. And He has. He has. The whole world. The whole world. This whole world under the curse
of God Almighty exists only And when God gets done with it,
you know what He's going to do with it? He's going to burn it up, make it
new for you. For you. Now, in verse 5, He seems to say, now have you
heard what I've been talking about? I said, fear not. Fear not, for
I'm with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east. I'll gather them, thee from the
west. I'll say to the north, give up to the south, keep not
back, bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends
of the earth. What? I'm telling you, Jacob, I'm telling
you, Israel, this is what I'm doing. I am ruling this world
and disposing of this world to save your seed, to save my people,
to save my Redeemer, to save Jacob and Israel. And I'm going
to do it. Freedom. Even everyone that's
called by my name. For I have created him for my
glory. I formed him, yea, I have made him. He says here, I am
with thee. In verse 2 he said, I will be
with thee. Here he says, I am with thee. In all the fullness
of all his glorious being, in all his wisdom, in all his grace,
in all his goodness, in all his power, wherever you are, God
says, I'm with you. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again,
I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known
unto all men. The Lord's at hand. Is God with
you? I have created you for my glory,
he says. The very glory of the triune
God wrapped up in the salvation of his people. He'll either save
every one of them, or he'll lose all his glory. Read verse 13. Yea, before the day was, I am
he, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. How's
that? There's none that can deliver
out of my hand. I'll work. Who's going to slap
me on the wrist to stop me? Who'll let it? Who'll prevent
it? When God Almighty said, let there be light, what happened? Anybody know what happened? There
was light. Well, how could He do that? What
if creation didn't accept that? Creation wasn't around. He's God. He's God. Well, I just can't believe that. That's because you don't know
God. He's God. Let there be light and there
was light. Let there be light and there was light. But what
about Satan? He can't do anything. He's not
God. He's not God. He's God's creature. He's God's creature. I'm not much, but I never have
created anything I couldn't control. Now, I never strictly created
anything, obviously. But I never had anything I couldn't
control. No. You give me a dog, and I'll
have dogs. But if I can't control him, he's
a dead dog. Just that simple. Just that simple. He can be around
if I can't control him. God rules. Everything that comes
to pass in providence comes to pass exactly as He wills it. Exactly. He says, I'll do all
my pleasure. How can He do that? I can't understand
that. That's because you don't know
who God is. He's God! He's God! Not me, He's God! In redemption, it was accomplished
by His Son exactly as He purposed it from eternity. And in all
the affairs of our lives, he works his will. He says, none
can deliver out of my hand. He took you in his hand before
the world began. And said, you can be mine. You
can be mine and hell can't have you. He took you in His hand
in the time of His grace. And He said, I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish. How come? Because
none can deliver out of His hand. None can deliver out of His hand.
I have a good friend I've never met. He heard me on radio years
ago out in Tempe, Arizona. He used to be a golf pro. He
lost his arm, and now he makes golf clubs for, I think, Pete. I think that's who it makes for.
He designs and makes them. Every time I hear from him, he
signs his letter this way. Every time I hear from him. In
his grip. Listen to me. That's where I
am. How about you? I'm in his grip. And hell can't loosen his grip. None shall deliver out of my
hand. Move on, verse 19. Behold, I'll do it, you think.
It shall spring forth. Shall you not know it? I will
even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Oh, it may appear that you are
wandering about aimlessly in an empty, barren desert. Can't
you imagine how those Israelites must have felt? We fuss about
them all the time. Those unbelieving folks, they
were such this, they were such that. Kind of like you and me.
They thought they were in a desert and couldn't find their way. You read the history. This is
how it looks like they walked for 40 years. for 40 years. It looked like
they were walking around in circles. And they were moving in the straightest,
best, only path that would lead them directly to Canaan's promised
land to possess what God gave His
people. God made a way for them in the
wilderness. And He kept them in the way in
spite of them. And He brought them to the land.
You say, well, but all of them perished except just those who
were under 20 years old. All of them perished in the wilderness
except Joshua and Caleb. All Israel entered into Canaan. All of them. All of them to whom
the land was promised and given before they ever left Egypt. And along the way, in the desert, he made a river. He made a river. A river to constantly
refresh them. Well, that's not historically
true. I'd like for the History Channel
to find that river. Where has that dried up river been? It
was in a rock, a smitten rock, that followed them everywhere
they went. It was a river that flowed from the very throne of
God, especially for God's Israel, from which they drank for 40
years. All the time they were in that
wilderness. And that rock and that river is Christ the Lord. Now, watch verse 21 and learn
why God made us, what he swore that he would do with us and
for us by his grace. This people have I formed for
myself. Oh, my soul, God made me just
for Him to show forth my praise. So let us praise Him with our
hearts and with our lips while we walk through this wilderness
and drink from that river. And blessed be His name, we shall
praise Him with our hearts and with our lips and with our souls
forever as we reflect redemption in eternity. And we shall be
for His praise forever. What reason we have to praise
Him? Look at verse 25. I can't go back and pick it up,
but you should read it in the context. He said, you forgot
me. You haven't worshipped me. You've
worried me, made me to serve with your sins and your iniquities. You. I'm guilty. But this is what God says. I,
even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions. You know what that looks like
to me? That looks like to me, Bobby. Oh, wondrous grace. While we
are wearying him with our transgressions. He's plotting them out. Presidents. Oh, the precious
efficacy of Christ's blood. He says, I blot out your transgressions
for my sake, for my glory, for my honor, and will not remember
thy sins. Now, look at chapter 44, verse 21. Remember these, O Jacob
and Israel, for thou art my servant. I have formed thee, thou art
my servant, O Israel. Watch it. Thou shalt not be forgotten
of me. You've forgotten me. God, what are you doing? Lord, don't you care that we
perish? You've forgotten me. Oh, how am I going to make this?
How am I going to get through this? You've forgotten me. I don't think I can bear another
day. You've forgotten me. I just don't feel like going
on. You've forgotten me. But thou shalt not be forgotten
of me. When my father and my mother
forsake me, the Lord will take me up. Whom have I in heaven
but thee, and there is no earth that I desire beside thee? My
flesh and my heart, they fail me, but God's the portion of
my heart and my strength forever. Now look at verse 23. No wonder
the prophet says, Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath done
it. Done what? Everything we've been
talking about. Everything we've been going through. The rivers,
and the fire, and the water, and the storm, and the opposition,
and the difficulty, and the blackness, and the darkness, and the desert,
and the weariness. The Lord's done it. The Lord's
done it. And He hadn't forgotten you. Shout, ye lower parts of the
earth. Break forth into singing, ye
mountains of the forest. Ye mountains, O forest, and every
tree therein, for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob. He hath glorified
himself in Israel. Now I've got to hurry. There
are four more pieces of candy I want you to see. Look at chapter
45, verse 2. God says, I will go before they.
He always walks in the front. I'll go ahead of you clearing
the road and paving it with grace. I'll break down the gates of
hell before you. I'll smash the locks and kick
down the bars of your prison. I'll go before you and make the
crooked places straight. That's what we read back there
in chapter 42 and verse 16. I told you he was talking about
our experience right now. I'll make the crooked places straight
as I go before you. If this is what I'm going to
do, I'm going to kick down the gates of hell in front of you. And
I'm going to kick out the bars of your prison. And I'm going
to break every lock to set you free. Verse 3, I will give thee
the treasures of darkness, the hidden riches of secret places. I read somewhere a long time
ago, I've never been in one, not likely to get in one, but
I've read somewhere a long time ago that if a man is in a deep,
deep well, and he looks up from the bottom of that dark, dark,
deep well, he can see stars that are totally hidden from
the view of the natural eye anywhere else except in that dark hole. Oh, look up, my soul, and see
the treasures of the darkness, the riches of God's hidden things. Behold, my servant, verse 17, Israel shall be saved. No ifs, ands, or buts. God's elect shall be saved. That's
what he's talking about. Saved in Christ. Saved in the
Lord. By blood, by grace, in a substitute. Saved with everlasting salvation. Saved forever. And this one last thing. Oh,
what a sweet morsel is added here. You shall not be ashamed
nor confounded. World without end. Oh, there's
a lot of loose ends here. Tons of confusing things. Much
to make us blush with shame. But soon, soon, things are going to be gloriously
different.